When Life Handed Me Lemons....

For over 40 years, I did what many of us are taught to do.

I worked hard.

I showed up.

I was loyal.

I gave my best to every organization I worked for.

Then one day, it was over.

I lost my job.

The first two weeks were some of the hardest I've experienced. I smiled on the outside, but inside I was carrying stress, uncertainty, and anxiety.

Questions filled my mind.

Will I find another job?

Do I even want to keep working for someone else?

What if no one hires me?

After spending four decades building someone else's vision, I found myself standing at a crossroads.

There was a moment when I realized I had spent 40 years helping other people build their dreams. I don't regret a single day because every job taught me something about leadership, people, resilience, and service. Every position prepared me for the next one.

But for the first time, I asked myself a question I had never seriously considered:

"What if God has been preparing me all these years to build something of my own?"

Maybe every lesson, every promotion, every challenge, every success, and even this unexpected layoff wasn't random. Maybe it was preparation. Maybe God wasn't taking something away from me. Maybe He was placing something into my hands and saying,

"Now it's your turn."

Then something unexpected happened.

As the fear slowly settled, I began to hear something I hadn't heard in a long time—God's voice.

Not in an audible way, but in a quiet whisper that kept asking me the same question:

"What if this isn't happening to you? What if it's happening for you?"

I started to wonder if losing my job wasn't the end of my story. Maybe it was God creating space for a new chapter.

A chapter where I stopped waiting for permission.

A chapter where I stepped out in faith.

A chapter where I finally invested in something I truly love.

For years, my passion has been encouraging women, building community, mentoring others, and creating opportunities through Just One Women's Circle. But like many people, I often placed my dreams around my work schedule.

Now my schedule had changed.

Maybe this wasn't a setback.

Maybe this was an invitation.

An invitation to trust God more than my paycheck.

An invitation to believe that purpose is bigger than comfort.

An invitation to stop asking, "What's next?" and start asking, "God, where are You leading me?"

I'm still on this journey.

I don't have all the answers.

There are still days when I wonder what's ahead. There are moments when fear tries to creep back in. There are days when I have to remind myself that faith isn't the absence of fear—it's choosing to move forward even when the future isn't clear.

But every day I choose faith over fear, I get a little stronger.

I've learned that making lemonade isn't about pretending the lemons aren't sour.

It's about believing God can take the bitter moments of our lives and create something beautiful from them.

Today, I'm choosing faith.

I'm choosing purpose.

I'm choosing to build something that leaves a legacy.

And I want to invite you to walk this journey with me.

This blog isn't being written from the finish line. It's being written from the middle of the story. I don't know exactly where God is leading me, but I know He's leading me somewhere. As I discover what this next chapter looks like, I'll share the lessons, the victories, the setbacks, and the moments where I see God's hand at work.

If you're standing at your own crossroads—wondering what's next, questioning your purpose, or trying to find hope after disappointment—I hope you'll join me.

Maybe we'll discover together that the lemons we never wanted become the very ingredients God uses to create something sweeter than we ever imagined.

This is my lemonade season.

And I believe the best is still to come.

Reflection Question:

What season are you in right now? Are you holding lemons, or are you beginning to see the lemonade God is creating?